


Reaching Out

by heartsdesire456



Series: Uncle Phil [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-25
Updated: 2013-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-27 14:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/979891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Phil Coulson gets news that his late sister's husband, a small town Sheriff from Northern California, was reported missing. By the time he looks into it, Sheriff John Stilinski was already home safe. However, since Phil is the only other relative the Sheriff's son has, when John needs somewhere to send his son while he's busy cleaning up the mess his disappearance caused, Phil can't possible turn down looking after his late sister's only child.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>First fic to a series in which Phil is Stiles's uncle and Stiles and his friends are sneakier than Phil ever could have imagined. (Gen is only for this part, eventual pairings to come)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reaching Out

**Author's Note:**

> This originally started as a longer, fully thought out fic... however about halfway in I realized I'd absolutely lost any semblance to a cohesive fic and it was mostly a series of scenes connected by a vague plot. I didn't want to scrap a fun idea just because my execution failed, so I decided to salvage what I could (which is most of the scenes, just edited to stand alone better) into a series of oneshots.
> 
> This is the first in that series.

Phil wasn’t sure why every terrorist cell in the country decided to arm itself at once, but three weeks straight of infiltrating small arms traders and a few who weren’t dealing so small was grating at him bad enough. Getting back to his office just in time to have Fury call him up to see him was enough to make Phil want to go back to the helicarrier just so he could throw himself off of it. When he got up to Fury’s office, he was beyond propriety and felt no qualms tossing himself down into the chair across from his old friend’s desk. “Hell of a few weeks, Nick,” he sighed.

Fury smiled faintly. “I’m worried it may be about to get worse, Phil.” He tossed a file at Phil, who slid it off the desk into his hands. “Your brother-in-law was John Stilinski, right?”

Phil hesitated, looking up with worry. “Do you mean ‘was’ as in my sister died so he’s not my brother-in-law really, or do you mean ‘was’ in a different way?” he asked.

Fury cringed. “Possibly both. Sheriff John Stilinski has gone missing,” he said and Phil flipped open the file quickly. “There’s some stuff going on in the town that’s frankly below our concern level. Some strange things, but nothing to do with national security so it’s not our problem. However, high level agents family ties ping on the FBI lists and when a small town Sheriff disappears the FBI gets involved fast.”

Phil looked into the file and barely bit back a curse. “What about his kid?” he asked. “Is his kid okay?”

“No idea, but I’m sure if you look into it, you’ll find out,” Fury said and Phil nodded, standing up.

“Thanks, I’ve got to go make some calls,” Phil said, already taking out his phone as he left the office. 

By the time anybody answered a call, Phil was already in his office, trying to wave Barton out. “Hello?” a voice asked, and Phil stopped, sitting down slowly after shooing Barton out into the hallway.

“John? Is that you?” Phil asked in surprise. “I thought you’d gone missing?”

“Who is this?” John asked. “Sorry, it’s just, new phone. Not all my contacts are in here-“

Phil cursed. Of course John wouldn’t remember him. They hadn’t spoken since Claudia died eight years ago. “Sorry, it’s Phil. Phil Coulson,” he said softly. “I’m sorry to call like this, but I’d heard you had gone missing and I was calling to check on Gi- Gid-“

“Haha don’t bother, I can’t say his name either,” John interrupted. “He goes by Stiles.”

Phil raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. Anyhow, what happened? Is everything alright?”

John sighed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said, and Phil barely kept from snickering at how untrue the statement probably was. “We’re alright now, but I really worry about how things are going to be the next few months. Stiles has suffered a lot of hard knocks for a kid his age. Hell, I’ve had to face some hard truths I didn’t expect and I’m the Sheriff.” John was quiet for a while. “You know, Phil, it’s surprising to hear from you. I kind of thought you’d fallen off the face of the earth.”

Phil cringed. “Yeah, I’m sorry how it’s been, John, but it was just easier. My life has been… entirely insane since Claudia-“ He froze, clearing his throat. “Well, it was just easier to forget she had a family.”

“Hey, I can’t say anything. Neither Stiles or I made any effort to reach out to you or your parents,” John said, then hesitated. “Your father… he passed, right?”

Phil chuckled sadly. “My mother did too,” he said and John cursed. “It’s mostly while I called now. If G- Stiles was alone now…” He trailed off and John made a soft sound.

“You’re the only family he has besides me,” John confirmed. “And trust me, I know it too. Stiles knows it. You wouldn’t believe what happened to me, but I can tell you that Stiles just- he lost it trying to find a way to get me home safe. He’s way too grown up for a seventeen year old kid.” 

Phil knew far too well how kids who had to grow up too soon often ended up. He only hoped his nephew didn’t go down the wrong path. 

~

Phil wasn’t expecting to hear from John again, so when his personal phone rang while he was blessedly home alone for one night, he was concerned immediately. “Hello?” he asked quickly, putting his book aside as he sat up, readying himself to go at a moment’s notice if need be.

“Hi, Phil,” John said, and Phil waited impatiently. “I really hate to ask this, I know we have very little to do with each other anymore, but-“ John sighed. “I need your help.” Phil wasn’t sure what John could possibly mean. John had no idea what Phil did, so he didn’t know what he could possibly help with. “I know this is a lot to ask, but I need to get Stiles out of this town for a little while. I know it’s too much on too short a notice, but I’m desperate-“

“John, I’d love to help,” Phil started. “But I can’t possibly take him. I’m in no state to look after a child, I don’t live in the right area, I’ve got a steady job-“

“I know, Phil, but he lost some friends,” John said and Phil sobered immediately.

“He… what?” Phil asked, sure that John didn’t mean… that.

John sighed. “I can’t explain the local violence, but since the school year began, a couple of his friends have died. I think some moved away as well. Four teachers have either gone missing or died.”

Phil raised an eyebrow. “Jesus, John, what the hell is going on in your town? Small towns don’t usually have that kind of crime rate.”

John chuckled weakly. “Let’s just say warring gangs have decided Beacon Hills is the place for them to move into. Since January, the violent crime rate has skyrocketed. I’ve had more murders and missing in this year than in all the years before.” He sighed. “Phil, I’m not asking for long. Just maybe a couple weeks. It’s winter break soon. I just need to get him out of here so I can straighten things up without worrying about him or him interfering. I think the heads of all three of the rival gangs have all been taken out of the picture so things should be easy to clean up now, I just need Stiles out of the way. Across the country is as out of the way as he could get.”

Phil groaned into his hand. On one hand, the obvious answer was ‘hell no!’, he couldn’t keep a teenager for a few weeks with his job. However, the truth behind it all was that – virtual stranger or not – this kid was his nephew and it sounded like his life was falling apart. Phil knew from years of seeing it on other agents what this kid’s lifestyle could do to him. Even if he hadn’t spoken to the boy since he was seven or eight years old, Phil didn’t want to see his sister’s son turn up on his target list someday. He considered for a split second simply saying no, but in the end, he knew he couldn’t say so without at least attempting to help the only blood relative he had left. “Alright,” he sighed. “I’m not saying yes, but I can check with my bosses to see if I can get some family time. If I can get time off, you can fly him out for a few weeks. It’s crazy, we’re totally strangers here, but no matter what, John, he’s my sister’s son, so I’m willing to try and help.”

“Thank you, Phil,” John said earnestly. “Regularly, I wouldn’t _trust_ you with my kid – I don’t know you anymore – but at this point, I’m pretty sure Stiles can protect himself if he needs to. And I’m desperate,” he admitted weakly. “You don’t have kids, right?” he asked, and Phil chuckled.

“No, no kids. Well, not _really_ ,” he said, thinking of his ragtag team of superheroes he had to deal with sometimes. That almost felt like having children. Or a daycare center.

“Well, take it from me since you don’t know it yourself,” John continued. “Seeing your kid scared and hurt is the worst thing that could ever happen. I’d give my life to never see my son get mixed up in shit like this ever again. I’m the luckiest man alive just because my kid came out of this alive when so many other people weren’t lucky.”

Phil knew he had always been a sucker for orphans and troubled children, so it wasn’t a shocker when he finished listening to the pleas of a father who didn’t want that fate for his own child he immediately put in a call to Fury to request a meeting so he could take some leave time, even if it meant being stuck with a teenage boy for a few weeks.

~

Fury read over his request again then looked up. “You’re serious. You want to take almost an entire month’s leave so you can _babysit a teenage boy_?” 

Phil cringed. “I don’t want to, Nick, but it’s my sister’s kid and the way his dad tells it, bad things have happened in his life. I’m the only other relative this kid has and I’ve got more than enough leave time saved up.”

Fury snorted. “You’re still supposed to BE on leave, you’re just too stubborn to take as long to heal as most people do.” He shook his head and grabbed a pen. “Fine, you can have your time. But don’t think for a minute I won’t send Barton to bug you if he gets too annoying with other handlers,” he warned, smirking at the glare Phil was sending him. “So, do you even know what to do with a teenager?” he asked.

“I put up with junior agents. That’s more like a high school cafeteria crowd than anything else,” Phil said flatly as he signed his own spot on the leave forms when they were slid across the desk towards him. “As long as I can keep him from breaking the law, trashing my apartment, or being around when Stark decides to kidnap me and blow my cover, I’ll call it a success.”

Fury chuckled and saluted him mockingly. “Good luck, Agent.”

**Author's Note:**

> More is coming, no worries!


End file.
